Union Topples Boston College In NCAA Tournament

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Josh Jooris scored two goals, and Troy Grosenick made 29 saves to help Union beat defending national champion Boston College 5-1 on Saturday night in the NCAA East Regional semifinals.

Union, the ECAC champion, will face conference rival Quinnipiac, the top seed in the 16-team tournament, on Sunday for a spot in the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh. Quinnipiac is 2-0 against Union this season.

“This program has had some pretty good wins over the years. But tonight just wasn’t another win for us,” Union coach Rick Bennett said. “We know that.”

Jooris opened the scoring on a power play in the first period, and made it 2-0 early in the second to carry the Dutchmen (22-12-5) to their seventh straight victory. Cole Ikkala put a soft goal past goalie Parker Milner, and Shayne Gostisbehere added a power-play goal to cap the three-goal second period.

“We needed to get the first one, it was absolutely paramount,” Bennett said. “We got it, and we took it from there.”

Daniel Ciampini completed the rout with a power-play goal at 5:19 of the third period.

Daniel Carr and Wayne Simpson had two assists apiece for the Dutchmen.

“We just stuck to the game plan and held them off,” captain Mat Bodie said. “We got the first goal and we’re a pretty good hockey team when we play with the lead. We’re not intimidated at all and we’re playing pretty well right now.”

Grosenick, a finalist for last year’s Hobey Baker Award, didn’t have to be outstanding as his teammates outskated and outworked the Eagles (23-12-4). He did face 16 shots in the third period and lost what would have been his second shutout in the last three games when 2013 Baker finalist Johnny Gaudreau scored with 3:58 left.

BC coach Jerry York, the NCAA victory leader, returned after missing two games because of eye surgery. He wore a patch over his right eye.

“Give credit to Union. They beat us fair and square,” York said. “And they are a real strong hockey team and we knew that. But I was very impressed watching them play. We had too many missed opportunities. We had some changes early and missed them and could not recover.”

Said BC captain Pat Mullane: “I think Union has a real good shot. They have very mobile defenseman and they have speed. Obviously, they are a very good hockey team, and they showed it. They were the better team.”